Real Housewives

It was a big week on WWHL, and no I'm not talking about Jill's Zarin on last night's show. (For the record, I'm still royally bugged/borderline offended that she would appear on WWHL to promote her movie right after refusing to participate in the RHONY 100th episode special.) Last Monday after RHOC, Shannon and David Beador sat down for a special interview with Andy Cohen about David's affair. For this week's feature, I'm breaking down the biggest revelations from the one-on-one sit-down.

The affair started the day after filming started for Season 9.

David's relationship with his mistress began on a trip he took. The couple readily admits they didn't have the best marriage prior to the affair. Shannon even went as far as to say she went on the show hoping it would improve their marriage. (This directly contradicts the track record of putting a strained marriage in front of cameras but OK.) Shannon believes that if it hadn't been this particular woman pursuing him, David wouldn't have strayed. Apparently, it's very rare for him to be around other women, so being thrust into a situation with a woman present made sparks fly. Throughout filming Season 9, Shannon would catch David whispering on the phone and suspected something was going on, but David would make her feel stupid for pointing out the inappropriate relationship with the mistress.

David was in love with the mistress and ready to leave Shannon.

Andy asks David if he would've eventually come clean had Shannon not found out about the affair and he says yes. However, not in the way you're probably thinking. At the time, David admits he thought he was in love with the other woman, and he was getting ready to leave Shannon for the fantasy of a new life. When Shannon found out and confronted him, he wasn't exactly apologetic - it was a rather nasty conversation and he moved out for two weeks.

The mistress really did befriend Shannon.

The woman's daughter was on a basketball team with twins Stella and Adeline, so she would sit with Shannon during the girls' games and press for information about the Beadors' marriage. How sick and twisted is that?? When David found out about the budding relationship, he quickly put a stop to it and the mistress abruptly stopped responding to Shannon's texts/calls. Since then, Shannon's never sought out the mistress, though they did speak over the phone once when the other woman called the house. In the conversation, Shannon only said that she wanted her family back and asked the mistress to back off, which the woman apparently respected.

Heather Dubrow knew about the affair during filming.

Orange County is a small place and Heather found out about the affair through mutual friends she had with the mistress. Throughout the filming of Season 9, David suspected Heather knew about his cheating but was obviously too nervous and guilty to try confirming his suspicions. When the scandalous email he sent to Shannon (suggesting he move out for a bit) became part of the season's storyline, Heather already knew about the affair but didn't say anything to a soul - not even Terry. Talk about ultimate girl code, Fancy Pants.

The Daily Mail revealed the identity of the mistress.

Shannon confirms that all the magazines and tabloids have known the woman's identity for a long time, but didn't come forward with the information because she's a private citizen with a family. David surprisingly defends the woman a bit, saying he wishes the tabloids hadn't released her identity because he doesn't see the point of dragging everyone through this in the spotlight for any longer when they've both moved on from the relationship.

David gave Shannon his wedding ring back - through one of the kids.

Though he had moved out of the house, David was still involved in picking the girls up from school and other parenting duties. One day when he picked up the kids from school, he gave Stella his wedding ring, telling her to give it to Shannon because he didn't want it anymore. Immediately after the incident, Shannon spent the afternoon filming confessionals for the show and wore the ring during the interviews, determined not to give up on her marriage. Andy is flabbergasted by this bombshell. I mean, David. In the history of dick moves, that's a pretty huge one.

They credit the show for helping save their marriage.

Shannon admits that she went back and forth on deciding to come back to the show for Season 10, but decided that the affair would probably come out either way. David says the show has helped their marriage by showing them things they needed to fix and work on, all while he's being held accountable to not only Shannon but everyone who watches the show. Through the whole ordeal, Shannon and David's kids have been able to learn that family is worth fighting for, they're committed to each other and their family is better and stronger than ever.